Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has expressed his desire to visit Bangladesh to discuss several pending bilateral issues.
He was supposed to travel Dhaka this month, but had to defer it due to unavailability of Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. The visit may take place in early August.
It will be the fourth encounter between them in a year, when the two meet next month.
A government official said, Japan is campaigning to host international expo at Osaka in 2025 and Russia is also a contender.
Tokyo has also publicly announced that it wants to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2023-24 period, he added.
“The expo election will be held this year and Tokyo wants clear commitment from Dhaka,” he said.
About UNSC, Japan wants double assurance from Bangladesh.
“First, it wants Dhaka will not float its candidacy for the UNSC non permanent seat for the 2023-2024 period and second it will support Tokyo,” he added.
In both the cases, Bangladesh is yet to take any decision.
“We have the national election just around the corner and it would be decided after holding the polls,” he said.
Rohingya and development are the two focus areas of Bangladesh, he added.